Ripple Effect
by Vamparino
Summary: Amy is having a problem with her eyes. She can't take them off of the one thing that Andrea despises. Amy/Daryl Takes place before the events of Season 1


_Author's Note: I was fortunate enough to a have the help of a couple excellent BETA's during the month I've been working on this piece. Thanks to The Insane Asparagus for correcting my sometimes reckless grammar and for pointing out the spots that needed just that little bit of filler to make things flow. And thanks to gameovaries, for your corrections, well placed suggestions, and moral support. You are both fantastic people and I am forever grateful for your help!_

_A general note to Walking Dead authors, or soon to be authors: If you don't have a BETA, get one, or two, or even three! There's an awesome list of willing BETA readers for this fandom (I'm one of them!). Don't be shy, just shoot a PM and see where it goes!_

_DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. This is a figment of my imagination laid out into text for your amusement. No profit is being made from this work._

"Eyes on the water, Amy," Andrea scolded her younger sister and gave her a disgusted look. She knew Amy was of legal age to make bad choices, but the looks she was giving that man were downright sinful! She wished Amy would at least pretend to have some self control.

Amy bit her lip but kept staring out across the still water of the quarry from her seat in the row boat. Andrea wanted nothing more than to smack the dreamy look off of her face. No good would come of the fantasy romance that Amy had cooked up as far as she was concerned.

Andrea wasn't sure how long they had been with the group of survivors, maybe two or three months. All the days seemed to drag and swirl into one another. The first day the sisters arrived in camp the Dixon brothers had been out gathering food and first aid supplies from a gas station that was about 5 miles out. As a result, Amy and Andrea never really got a proper introduction. Though both of them were given several warnings about Merle's drug habit and Daryl's hair trigger temper.

Those warning were more than enough of an introduction as far as Andrea was concerned. She had made Amy promise to stay away from the Dixon duo at all costs.

Andrea understood and was able to read between the lines of what the others were telling them. The overall message was clear to her: just because the Dixon's were survivors didn't mean they were good people. But the instant that redneck Daryl Dixon drove up the hill in his old pick up, dripping with sweat and a bad attitude, Amy had started to swoon.

Not for the first time, Andrea found herself panicked that her sister had caught the bad boy bug that seemed to run in the women of their family.

Ever the optimist, Andrea had been able to overlook most of the love sick vibes that she caught Amy giving off over the past couple months. The lip biting after long stares, the false starts to conversations where Amy would shut her mouth as soon as Daryl looked at her. Andrea was even able to write off the tedious way her sister would wash his sleeveless shirts when it was her turn to do laundry.

Amy barely ever talked to Daryl, but Andrea assumed the only thing that held her back was his caveman of a brother, Merle who was rarely away from his baby brother's side. Neither one of them were winners as far as Andrea was concerned, but Daryl was thankfully the lesser of the two evils. Sure he had a temper, but he only ever let it loose on the other men in the camp. Not that he was a can of peaches towards the women, but it was obvious to Andrea that he would make an effort to keep his anger in check around them. She supposed that should have counted for something, but he still wasn't, or ever would be good enough for Amy.

Amy let out a puff of air and pouted, blowing at the piece of hair that had fallen onto her nose. "Don't be such a buzzkill. Looking isn't illegal… but looking like that should be a crime." Amy said as she let out an appreciative whistle and Andrea barked out a laugh.

"Please, feel free to not share any more snap shots into your dirty mind. My heart can't take it, especially if it involves him." Andrea turned her nose up at the man in question and shook her head. "You know that saying 'not if you were the last man on Earth'? You need to start considering him as that last man," Andrea said off handedly as she cast her line out into the water. The fish hadn't been biting as much as the pair would have liked, but it wasn't as though they didn't have the time to wait them out.

Amy reeled her line in quickly, she had grown impatient waiting for a nibble on her hook. The truth of it was that Amy was too distracted to pay attention to anything. She continued admiring her object of interest, then tilted her face up into the blazing sun. Amy let out a long sigh as she got swept up in a day dream. "I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that. You know that saying 'rock my world'?" Andrea arched an eye brow, "I bet my life he would do just that!"

Andrea stared open mouthed at Amy, who was staring open mouthed at the man swimming along the shallow edge of the quarry. Andrea wasn't ready to hear Amy talk like that, it didn't matter if she was a college student before the outbreak. She would much rather view her as the little girl who would weep during the Little Mermaid no matter how many times she watched.

"Let me get this straight," Andrea started, tugging on the line when she felt a bite. "The world goes to shit, and all of a sudden you don't have standards?"

Amy scoffed and looked down at her feet, a faint blush reached her cheeks. She hated how much of a prude Andrea could be. "Standards? Please it's not like we have the pick of the litter at our disposal. We can't just go out on a Friday night and see what boy has the hottest moves on the dance floor!" Amy watched him out of the corner of her eye for a moment, and smiled. It was the affectionate smile that worried Andrea more than any Walker ever could.

"True enough, but still-"

Andrea was cut off by Amy saying the classic words every girl used to justify an awkward crush.

"Besides, you don't even know him." Amy spoke softly, but knew as soon as she said it that it was only going to piss Andrea off more. But that's what being a little sister is all about, she thought to herself.

"Oh, and you do? Amy, he's a loose cannon. A loose cannon with a great body sure, but still way too dangerous for you to be looking twice at him." Andrea reeled in her fish and cursed when it wiggled off her hook at the last minute, taking the bait with it.

A few moments ticked by and Andrea felt her blood pressure going down, she was all too happy to be off the subject of Daryl Dixon. She was even happier to have her sister off the topic of Daryl Dixon. Andrea was well aware that the eye candy around camp was limited, but if Amy kept looking at Daryl like she did, how long before Daryl started looking back at her?

Just as Andrea found herself getting used to the silence, Amy spoke up. "It's the end of the world 'Drea, we're gonna have to start repopulating the world soon if we want to survive as a species. Are you really going to stand in the way of my happiness and the safety of the human race?"

Andrea looked up sharply from the hook she was baiting, worm still wiggling helplessly between her fingers. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw her sister's impish face staring back at her. Andrea knew she still had to be on guard where Amy's love interest was concerned. She was young and prone to making bad decisions. Andrea couldn't lose her, and she'd be damned if she was going to let some wild redneck take advantage of her.

But for now, Andrea just assumed let it go. She slid the worm onto the hook and held it out in front of her face, pleased with how secure it looked. "You're such a little shit! I was gonna drown you right here and now if you were serious."

"No you wouldn't have, you love me," Amy proclaimed and made a fish face at her older sister.

Andrea rolled her eyes and cast her line back out into the water. "Yeah, well, he's an ape anyway. Don't get your hopes up girl. He's a lot older than you, and men like that aren't exactly into wining and dining their women." Amy just shrugged and watched a pair of birds fly over head. It left Andrea with the distinct feeling that she had been completely ignored.

The conversation stopped there and they continued fishing, the only sounds were rustling leaves, distant splashes, and the distinct clicks of their fishing reels. Suddenly the boat started rocking back and forth. Both Andrea and Amy grabbed the sides and looked across the water towards the shore. There was nothing that should be making the water move as much as it was.

Nothing except…

A stream of water struck Andrea with deadly precision between the eyes, and both girls yelped as the cold water surged up and drenched them both from head to toe. The next thing they heard was a deep chuckle that echoed across the rippling water of the quarry. That chuckle grew into a belly laugh as Andrea sputtered and gasped, water spraying out of her mouth. The bellowing laughter had come from none other than Daryl Dixon.

Daryl was floating in the quarry alongside their boat, water below his arm pits. By the way he bobbed up and down there was a chance his feet weren't touching the mud beneath them. He had a satisfied grin on his face, but in typical Daryl fashion, his teeth weren't showing. His nostrils flared as he cleared the water out of his nose, slicking back the wet hair off of his forehead.

Andrea growled low in her throat and she glared at Daryl, her fury was evident which only made Daryl laugh harder. She took off her straw hat and shook the water off of it, brushing her damp hair away from her face and behind her ears. "What the fuck was that for?" She shouted at him, and only got more upset when she saw Amy laughing. "This isn't funny!" Andrea pointed at Amy. Amy tossed her hands up in surrender and started pulling her soaked shirt away from her slender frame, attempting to wring out the water.

"'Cause, I thought it'd be funny to knock that smug look off your face. Prissy bitch can't take a joke." Daryl growled, the trademark scowl back on his face. His eyes squinted against the sun as he looked to the casualty of war, Amy, who had been caught in his cross fire. Amy turned her head, a soft smile of her lips despite the water falling down her face. Amy and Daryl's eyes met and there was a long moment where neither looked away.

Andrea was mortified. She coughed into her hand, under the guise of clearing the water out of her lungs. Then the spell was broken, and Amy and Daryl both looked anywhere but at each other. As if nothing had happened, Daryl swam back to shore.

"Your crush is a real prick, Ames." Andrea bit out and looked down at the dark stains that were spreading across the front of her shirt.

Amy snickered as she wiped the water off of her face and reeled her fishing line in for the final time. "So now you're accepting of my crush?" Amy secured the hook of her line onto the pole and set it down into the boat. She let out a long sigh and smiled to herself, staring up at the RV on the top of the hill. Her eyes then dragged down, across the rock face of the quarry, to the shore line, and finally to Daryl who was dragging a bar of soap across the back of his neck.

Andrea cleared her throat and glared at Amy. "As long as you carry out a very strict look but don't touch policy and keep your panties on, I'll let it be."

"Deal… for now." Amy wrung out the rest of the water from the hem line of her shirt.

"Promise?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "What are we? Seven? Fine! Promise…" But Andrea didn't notice Amy's fingers cross as she said it. Two could play that game.

The sisters exchanged mock glares as they began packing up their gear and strung together the few fish they had been able to catch. As they rowed back to shore, Amy did her best to keep her eyes off Daryl as he was toweling off. She let Andrea take the lead up the hill once they pulled the boat onto the sand.

But Amy's best effort hadn't been good enough because Daryl caught her peeking at him from under her wet bangs. He gave her a nod of acknowledgement. At least he spared her the embarrassment of calling her out on her blatant staring. Or so Amy thought.

Amy's pulse raced when Daryl cleared his throat behind her, hot on her heels. She moved to the side so that he could get past her, but he instead fell in step beside her. He was fully dressed in his red flannel with cut off sleeves, his arms were still wet. Amy liked the way the droplets sparkled against his tanned arms. She was admiring the view out of the corner of her eye when she felt a rough hand on her elbow.

"Slow down a minute," Daryl's breath was warm on her neck and his voice was low in her ear. "Ya kno, sound carries damn well over water." Amy felt her palms start sweating and she gripped the fishing pole in her left hand tighter than need be.

"That so?" Amy whispered back, her mouth had gone dry and she licked her chapped lips. How much had he heard?

"Yeah, that's so," he put his hand on the small of her back, pressing the cool wet fabric against her goose pimpled skin. She shivered despite the oppressive heat and she caught a glimpse of a smirk on Daryl's face. "I seen you watchin' me all the time. Just so we're on the same page, I got a strict policy too. An' it's to look at an' touch your panties at the very first chance I get . That sound good to you?" Daryl slid his hand into the back pocket of her jeans. He squeezed gently and Amy bit her lip to keep from making a sound.

Amy nodded quickly and found herself wishing Andrea would vanish. It would figure the one time she had a chance at the pipe dream she'd had in the back of her head for months, she wasn't even able to act on it. If Andrea turned around and saw them there would be absolute hell to pay.

Daryl stopped Amy in her tracks and placed a soft kiss on her sun burnt lips. It was a chaste kiss, brief and to the point, much like everything Daryl did. Even when Amy let her tongue dart out to meet his, he didn't let the kiss go any further than his teeth dragging across her bottom lip. He pulled away, not making eye contact with her and began walking again. Amy had to take two steps for every one of his just to keep up.

"I don't want you breakin' a promise to your kin, so don't worry 'bout nothin'. You ain't gonna have to touch me or take those panties off for what I wanna do to you… not yet anyway." His kiss was a contrast to his words, but Amy found it sexy. How he could he talk dirty in one breath, and kiss her like a gentleman the next confused the shit out of her. But she couldn't deny how much she liked it…

"Well," Amy said quietly, staring at the back of Andrea's head. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

Daryl let out a quiet laugh and kicked at a rock that had fallen under his boot as he walked. "Everythin'? Nothin'? In case you can't tell, I'ma pretty simple man. It don't take much for a woman like you to get my imagination runnin' wild. But I ain't a brute neither, I ain't gonna force nothin' on you."

Amy nodded slowly, she was still trying to come to grips with the fact that Daryl had kissed her. She was still trying to come to grips with the fact that they were even having a conversation. It all seemed so surreal, almost too good to be true. "How do I know you're not a pig just like your brother? All I've been told since I got here was to stay away from you." Amy knew it was an unfair dig, but she needed to know. If she was gonna put her heart, or at the least, her body on the line, she needed to know up front what his intentions towards her were. Just because Amy wanted to act out a couple fantasies that involved Daryl, didn't mean she lived in a fantasy world.

Daryl seemed to lose some of his confidence as he walked next to her. He twirled a lock of her blonde hair around his finger. He let it fall back to her shoulder and spoke quietly.

"I'm guessin' it's the same way I know you ain't some tight ass that thinks she's got all the answers… you ain't your sister. And I'm not my brother. And contrary to what that hot shot sister of yours may think, I do know a thing or two about being good to a woman. I'ma let you decide how this goes. I mean, keepin' things simple ain't a bad thing. But if things got a bit more complicated, we could see where it went…" Daryl placed a quick peck on Amy's forehead and the tender touch caused her to stumble. Daryl grabbed her wrist to make sure she didn't fall. "You ain't her, and I ain't him."

Without another word, he let go of her arm. While Amy struggled to regain her footing and sense of balance as a result of the world having spun off its axis, Daryl stalked off. He breezed past Andrea and tossed his wet towel over his shoulder in such a way that it hit Andrea in the chest as he went passed her. She mumbled something about Neanderthals being rude bastards and turned to check on Amy.

"You okay?" Andrea asked, noticing that Amy wasn't keeping up with her.

Amy swallowed hard and picked up the pace. "Fine! Sorry, I just… I almost dropped something!" Amy walked quickly past Andrea and stepped around Daryl as she reached the top of the hill by camp.

She heard Daryl mumble under his breath as she skittered past him and into the tent she shared with Andrea. She had to avoid Daryl at all costs act natural otherwise Andrea would start asking questions. Amy swore Andrea could sniff out a lie before somebody even told one. It was part of what had made her such a good lawyer in their old lives.

"Only thing you almost dropped was your panties." Daryl dead panned, but no one was around to hear it accept Amy.

Amy caught Daryl's eye as she started to zip up the tent. He winked at her as he snatched up his ever present crossbow from its place against the RV. She smiled back and closed the tent up the rest of the way.

Amy had to change her clothes before she could even consider going back out to face the rest of the camp. She decided she would use the rest of the day to think up a way to get back at Daryl for making her wet.

And she was going to spend the rest of the week thinking of a way to make him do it again.

THE END

Please review! Even if it's something really quick and to the point. Anything is better than nothing! Thanks for reading.


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